No Heroics
by LaylaBinx
Summary: There was a loud crack of a gunshot and Harvey turned just in time to see Mike fall to the floor.
1. Uneasy

**Hello all! This is going to be my first multi-chapter Suits story! Whooo! This is for _MegalegU _who requested a bank hold-up story ^.- The story will probably only be about 4-5 chapters max so I should be able to update quickly! Hope you all like it! :D**

**I own nothing =(**

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Mike knew something was wrong the minute they arrived at the building. Call it a hunch or a premonition or whatever else came to mind but something just didn't sit right with him. For starters, he'd seen at least three men on their walk over here who were dressed almost exactly the same: dark jackets, black jeans, and baseball caps. They weren't all together, one near the parking lot, one across the street, and another standing at the stoplight at the corner. In the bustle of people that were constantly wandering the street, it shouldn't have been an odd occurence to find a few people dressed alike but there was something about those three that made Mike put up a mental flag as they passed.

Another thing was that their newest client worked at a bank and seeing that many darkly dressed men on the same block as the bank they were heading toward was putting him on edge. He tried to ignore it, push the questions and concerns past his mind, but they lingered just on the edge of his consciousness, nagging at him with each step they took. He entertained the idea of bringing it up to Harvey but he knew the older man would probably just tell him he was overreacting and to focus on the client.

It was early and many of the shops and businesses on this block were just now opening. Their client had requested they come in early enough so that their meeting wouldn't interfere with business hours and Harvey had obliged. Mike had found it a bit odd that he didn't insist the man come to _his_ office but he knew better than to ask. Harvey had his own ways about charming the clients and Mike figured this was probably one of his methods.

The bank was floor-to-ceiling windows in the front, polished and tinted blue. The hours were painted on the front door in bright white, blocky numbers and the brass door handles gleamed in the early morning sun. Mike took stock of the doors and made a mental note that there was one set of double doors in front and probably at least one in the back. He had enver been one to clearly mark exits in his head but today seemed to be an exception. He filed the information away silently and followed Harvey into the building.

The lobby was large and open with polished, black marble floors and large, unoccupied wooden desks pushed back in the corners. A row of teller windows sat toward the back of the lobby, a long hallway cutting further back into the building behind them. There were a few sleepy-looking tellers sitting behind the windows but aside from them and he and Harvey, the building looked empty.

A short, balding man appeared from a door back in the hall and came around to greet them. He had a nice smile and a kind face and he seemed genuinely pleased to meet them. Mike probably would have been much happier meeting him as well if he didn't feel so damn uneasy. He kept glancing back toward the large windows as the man and Harvey spoke, keeping an eye out for the darkly dressed men he'd seen earlier. He wanted to believe he was overreacting and that those men simply happened to pick out clothes that vaguely matched each other in the morning. He wanted to believe that they were just innocently passing by on the street that morning and were off to go on about their day. And he really, _really_ wanted to believe that they hadn't just walked into a trap. When the man suggested they talk in his office to give them more privacy, Mike was reluctantly pulled away from his window vigil to follow Harvey.

Mike sat quietly, taking notes while Harvey and the man discussed his case. It was something about business loans not being paid on time and lawsuits being brought up in order to get payment and something else but Mike honestly wasn't paying attention. He was only half-listening to the case at hand, the rest of his attention was focused on listening to what was going on outside of the room. It was probably nothing, he told himself for the fifth time that morning. Probably his mind working overtime and making him paranoid, but he couldn't shake his uneasiness.

Harvey had just started into his part of the case when there was a noise from the lobby. Mike felt his back stiffen instantly. Their client looked both alarmed and puzzled at the same time and he and Harvey both looked toward the door that Mike had been staring at for the last thirty seconds. They all stood up and walked out into the hallway, getting a clear view of the lobby at the front. Mike felt like his heart stopped.

The same three men they'd passed on the way to the building were standing in the lobby, guns drawn and white masks covering their faces. The bank tellers were frozen behind their desks, hands tembling above their heads. Mike could have laughed at the irony of the situation had it not been so serious; they came to talk about money not being paid back on the day of a bank robbery. How could that get any better?

One of the men noticed them standing in the hall and turned his gun toward them. "Good morning gentlemen." he said, his voice muffled behind the mask. "This is a robbery."

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**More to come soon, I promise! :D**


	2. Hostage Situation

**Whooo! Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews and the story alerts! XD I'm so happy you guys like this! I hope I can keep delivering! :D**

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There was a second of absolute stillness before one of the masked men made his way down the hall, gun still pointed at them. "Hands in the air." he told them calmly, nudging Harvey's shoulder with the muzzle of his gun. "Keep 'em away from your pockets and where I can see them."

Harvey, Mike, and their client obliged, keeping their hands shoulder level and allowing themselves to be hearded to the front lobby where the other tellers were waiting. Three guns were now pointed at them and no one dared to make a move.

"Alright." said the masked man in the middle. "We're going to make this very easy. We take the money and we leave, no one gets hurt and everyone walks out of here to see another day." He rounded his gun so it was facing Harvey and Mike. "But...if anyone does anything stupid, anything at all, they get a bullet in the face. Got it? No one's playing Superman today, kiddies."

One of the gunman walked over and grabbed a handful of their client's shit, holding him tightly by the collar. The man looked stricken with terror. "Take me to the vault." the gunman growled, shoving the man back in the direction of the hallway and away from everyone else. After a few seconds there was silence and the remaining party was left alone with the other two gunman.

Mike glanced down the line, taking a mini survey of everyone in the bank. There were four tellers, three women and one man, plus he and Harvey. One of the women and the man were both older, probably in their fifties, and another woman looked like she was in her early thirties. The last woman, the one standing closest to Mike, looked close to his age and was easily seven months pregnant. She was short, about a full head shorter than him, and she had tears in her eyes. They all looked terrified and Mike just hoped that things would go smoothly and they'd all get out of this unharmed.

"Well," Harvey muttered next to him, a resigned, almost bemused tone in his voice. "This certainly wasn't how I saw the morning going."

In spite of himself, Mike smirked. Leave it to Harvey to try to make light of a bank robbery. "Well, I don't think many people count on being involved in an armed robbery at 8 am."

"Hey!" one of the gunman snapped, rounding his gun on them quickly. "Stop talking!"

Their conversation ended instantly as they stared, eye level, at the gun pointing toward them.

The pregnant woman had lowered her arms, wrapping them across her stomach protectively.

"Hands up!" the man snapped, turning his attention, and his gun, to her. The woman's eyes widened and the tears that had been sitting just on the verge of falling finally did, leaving long trails down her face. "I said," the man growled, cocking the gun ominously. "Put your fucking hands up in the air."

"Hey man, leave her alone. She's pregnant." Mike snapped before he could stop himself, instantly getting a closer look at the loaded gun.

"What did you say, pretty boy?" the man snarled, taking a step closer so he was right in Mike's face. "Remember what we said earlier? 'No one plays Superman'?" Mike flinched a bit as the gun was brought closer to his face. "So shut your fucking mouth and let us do our job and you won't have to worry about Preggo over here." He stepped away from the desk, still holding his gun at arms length and eyeing them all behind the slits in his mask.

Mike let out a breath he hadn't realized he's been holding, absently noticing that his hands were shaking. He'd never been that close to the barrel of a loaded gun before and it was certainly not something he wanted to do again in the near future.

"Idiot." Harvey muttered beside him but the older man looked just as shaken even though he tried to hide it. He straightened a bit, rounding his shoulders back, but he was still a bit paler than Mike was used to seeing him. He'd give him grief about it later when they weren't being held at gun point.

The wail of a siren somewhere off in the distance caused both gunmen to jump slightly and turn their attention toward the windows in front of the building. "Shit." one of them muttered and he glanced back at the tellers and Mike and Harvey behind the counter.

"What the fuck do we do now?" the other man hissed, hitting his partner in the arm with the butt of his gun. "If we take off we're walking right into the hands of the cops!"

The other man ignored him for a second, looking back at the windows again. "Take them into one of the back rooms." he said finally, nodding toward the group behind the counter. "This just became a hostage situation." His partner stared at him for a second behind the eyes of his mask so the other man elaborated. "I'll tell them that if they let us go free then all of these people will be safe. But, if they take one step toward this building before we're out, we start picking them off one at a time. Got it?"

The other man nodded and turned his attention back to the group. "You heard the man. You've all been promoted to the rank of hostages." He walked toward them, gun still level with everyone behind the counter and gestured them toward the hallway.

They walked, single file, down the hall until the gunman stopped in front of one of the open rooms. It looked like it was in the middle of being remodeled because there was nothing inside but a few rolls of wall paper and a step ladder in the corner. No tools though, Mike thought with mild disappointment. Nothing they could use as a weapon to defend themselves. Not that it would do much good, a bullet was faster and more effective than anything they could come up with but it was the thought that counted.

As the group was filing into the room, the pregnant woman wrapped her arms around her stomach again, the same protective, comforting gesture Mike had seen her do earlier. And, just like before, it irritated the gunman. "Hands in the air lady!" He barked, shoving the gun at her menacingly.

The woman let out a startled sob. "Please...don't do this..." She cried, her voice trembling as she spoke.

The gunman wasn't moved by her tears. "Get in there!" He growled, shoving her roughly into the room. She tripped over the edge of the carpet and fell onto her knees with a soft gasp.

"Hey!" Mike wasn't even really aware of turning around and forcing himself between the woman and the man with the gun. Normally he wouldn't jump into situations like that without thinking them through first. But this had gone far enough and he wasn't about to sit around and let this asshole pick on a pregnant woman anymore.

There was a very brief confrontation between the man and Mike before the other man seemed to remember he had a gun. There was a loud crack of a gunshot and Harvey turned just in time to see Mike fall to the floor.

"Mike!" He yelled before he realized his mouth was still capable of words. The younger man was on the ground, curled on his side and holding his hands over a bleeding wound in his leg. Harvey glared at the gunman, white-hot fury coursing through him.

The gunman didn't seem intimidated in the least. "Looks like we got our first casualty." He said calmly before closing the door and locking all of them inside.

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**Aww, look at Mike being a BAMF *le sigh* A man after my own heart ^.-**


	3. Idiot

**Hello my lovelies! Here's a bright, shiny new chapter for you! :D**

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The minute the door closed, Harvey was across the room and on his knees next to Mike. The younger man was curled on his side, one leg pulled up to his chest and his hands clamped tightly over a bloody hole in his pants leg. Rivulets of blood were leaking through his fingers, streaming down the outsides of his hands and dripping onto the ugly grey carpet.

The sight of the blood stunned Harvey but instead of making his nauseous or panicky, it pissed him off. Mike had been standing literally three feet behind him...how the hell did he manage to get shot when he was standing three feet away? He couldn't dwell on that at the moment though, nor could he dwell on the fact that the bullet could have hit him in the chest on stomach or head for that matter. He needed to see how bad the wound was.

"Ah..." Mike gasped raggedly, his eyes squeezed shut in pain. "That hurt a lot more than I thought it would..."

"Of course it hurts you idiot. A bullet just ripped through your leg." Harvey muttered, prying Mike's hands away from the wound. The younger man tried to move his hands back to cover the bleeding hole but Harvey kept a tight grip on his wrists. "Let me see." he demanded but there was no heat in his voice.

The other tellers had crowded around them by this point, all curious and anxious to know about Mike's injury.

"How bad is it?" one of the women asked, her eyes wide and face white at the sight of all the blood.

"Did it hit an artery?" the only male teller asked, appearing near Mike's legs and practically nose-to-nose with Harvey.

Harvey shook his head cautiously. He didn't know much about first aid but he knew that if the bullet had struck an artery the blood would be spurting like something out of a horror movie. There was a lot of blood, much more than he was comfortable with, but it wasn't spurting; it was oozing rather heavily though and that was an issue that needed to be addressed quickly.

"Does anyone have something we could use as a bandage? A towel? Anything?" he looked around at the other tellers who were all crouched around Mike. One of the women pulled off a scarf she's been wearing around her neck and passed it to him. Harvey nodded in thanks to her and took the scarf, covering the wound with it and pressing down firmly.

Mike let out a strangled cry and tried to jerk away but the male teller braced his leg with his hands and allowed Harvey to keep pressure on the wound. The other tellers were trying to calm him, shushing him gently. The pregnant woman, the one he'd take a bullet for, was crouched above his head, her hands cupping either sides of his face. Her hair was long, just barely brushing the top of his forehead, and she looked about two seconds away from tears one again.

Mike grit his teeth, one hand clenching next to his side, his fingers slippery with his own blood. He tried to think about something else, anything else, but all he knew was the incredible pain in his leg. "God...getting shot sucks..."

There was a soft sniffle above him and he opened his eyes to see the woman hovering near his head. "I'm so sorry..." she whispered, her voice quivering as she spoke. "I'm so sorry...you got shot because of me..."

Mike shook his head slowly. "No...it wasn't your fault. I knew what I was getting into." It was a lie, he actually had no clue what he was doing when he turned on the gunman but what he did know was that he wanted to put himself between her and that gun. He didn't regret the decision, he would have done it again in a heartbeat, but it still hurt like hell. "Please don't cry."

That only seemed to make her more upset because the tears began to fall this time and she shook her head. "I'm sorry." she apologized again. "I'm trying not to..."

Mike smiled, his jaw clenched tightly to keep from gritting his teeth any harder. "Its okay." He needed something to take his mind off the pain. "What's your name?" he asked, catching the young woman's attention again.

She sniffled again before answering. "Allison."

Mike tried to give her a comforting smile. "Allison. That's a nice name." He winced when Harvey pressed down a bit harder on the wound. "Ah...when..." he took a shaky breath because the pain was beginning to make him dizzy.  
"When is your baby due?"

Allison brushed a tear from her cheek, smiling shakily. "October. He's due October 18th..."

"October, huh? That's pretty soon." Allison nodded and smiled again, a bit bigger this time.

Harvey was watching the interaction between the two silently, juggling between still being pissed at Mike and being slightly impressed by the way he handled things. He'd been shot through the leg not five minutes ago and he was trying to comfort someone else. It seemed ludicrous and stupid and so completely Mike-like that he couldn't help be a bit taken aback by it. He wanted to be mad at him for jumping in front of a man with a gun but he knew it was just part of who the younger man was. He cared about people, enough to put his own life on the line, and Harvey admired the hell out of that even though he would never tell him to his face.

"You're such a Goddamn idiot." he muttered instead, frowning a bit when the blood soaked through the scarf and coated the insides of his hands like acrylic paint.

Mike let out a soft, breathy laugh and stared up at the ceiling. "You would have done the same thing."

"No, I would have made sure she was alright before I charged a man with a gun!" Harvey snapped and he hoped his irritation hid the shakiness in his voice. The last thing he needed was for Mike to know he was worried about him. Number 1) it wouldn't do anyone any good if Mike started to panic because Harvey was panicking and number 2) he had a reputation to uphold.

Mike said nothing to that, his face pinched in pain. He was a bit pale, a light sheen of sweat covering his forehead. Harvey figured most of that was coming from the pain but he couldn't let up on the pressure he was putting on Mike's leg. He had no idea how long they were going to be stuck in here and he certainly didn't need him bleeding to death just because they couldn't get to hospital any time soon. He tied the scarf around Mike's leg tightly, enough to staunch some of the bleeding but not enough to cut off circulation to the rest of his leg.

He looked at the male teller across from him. "Can you help me get him up?"

"I can walk Harvey."

"Shut up."

The male teller nodded and slipped an arm around Mike's shoulders while Harvey did the same on the other side. Together, they lifted him up and started to half-walk, mostly-drag Mike across the room to the opposite wall. Mike tried to help them, tried to walk on his own, but the minute he put weight on his injured leg he nearly collapsed, crying out pain and nearly bringing the other two men down with him.

"Dammit Mike!" Harvey growled, tightening his grip on the younger man's shoulders and straightening him up once more. "You're going to make it worse!" A fresh wave of blood had soaked the scarf and the leg of his pants and Harvey cursed softly under his breath. Leave it to Mike to make things complicated even when he was injured.

They reached the wall and Harvey maneuvered Mike so his back was pressed against it and helped him slide down to the floor. Mike was breathing hard, his eyes squeezed shut tightly, and he kind of looked like he was going to be sick.

"You okay?" Harvey asked, shattering his previous thought process of trying to prevent Mike from thinking he was worried.

The younger man nodded slowly after a second and opened his eyes. "Yeah...just a little dizzy."

Harvey shook his head. "Idiot." he mumbled again before taking a seat next to his associate and pressing his back into the wall. It looked like they were going to be here for a while so he figured he might as well make himself comfortable.

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**Aww I just love these two, they're so freaking cute! XD**


	4. Twenty Questions

**Wow, you guys are so amazing! Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews and the alerts! You rock my socks! XD**

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"What do you think they're doing?" The male teller, Stanley, muttered, casting a wary glance at the door.

"I don't know. I just want to them to leave." The older woman sitting next to him, Carol, drew her knees up to her chest and rested her elbows on them. They'd all been stuck in the room for nearly twenty minutes now, no sounds other than the distant wail of police sirens coming from the front of the building.

"Do you think they're going to come back in here?" The other woman, Lisa, asked cautiously, her gaze drifting to the door as well. Allison was sitting next to Lisa, her eyes shifting between the door and Mike worriedly. They had all been waiting with bated breath for several minutes after the door had closed, each silently wondering if one of the gunman was going to come back in and steal one of their number to drag to the front and use as a human shield in front of the police. So far no one had come back for any of them.

"They won't come back in as long as they have a hostage to work with." Harvey chimed in from his corner of the room. "They still have Bruce and they'll use him to their advantage before they come back for us. If they do anything, he'll be first." It was kind of cruel to view it that way but he didn't really care. He had bigger concerns on his mind right now. Namely his still-bleeding associate sitting next to him.

Mike hadn't said much since they'd been sitting there, his eyes focused on the door like everyone else's. He was paler than he had been before, his skin shockingly white against the dark fabric of his suit. Harvey couldn't tell if the bleeding had stopped but he knew the scarf and the pants leg were completely soaked and that thought didn't make him happy.

"How you doing over there, kid?" Harvey asked, watching Mike's expression carefully.

The younger man shrugged one shoulder slightly. "I'm okay...leg hurts like hell but I guess that's to be expected..."

"Yeah, well next time maybe you'll think before you jump in front of a bullet." There was no bite in Harvey's voice as he spoke. It wasn't going to help either of them if he kept riding Mike's ass about that but it was harder to let it go than he thought. He still couldn't believe the kid had taken a bullet in the leg. This was supposed to be a simple case! Jesus, it was supposed to be an open and shut, sign here, initial there, and we'll meet with you later in the week case. What the hell?

Mike said nothing to Harvey's scolding and rested his head against the wall. Slumped against the wall like that, he looked so much smaller and younger than Harvey was used to. Mike was only a tiny bit shorter than he was but his posture right now made him look like a high school kid rather than a (fake) lawyer. He looked tired and worn and Harvey wondered how much of that came from the blood loss and how much of it was from pressure at the firm.

"So what were you studying in school. You know, before you got kicked out?" He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the question he'd just asked or the fact that he really wanted to know the answer.

Mike blinked slowly, too slowly for Harvey's liking, and turned his attention to the older man. He smiled lazily but the expression just made him look tired. "What's with the Twenty Questions all of a sudden?"

Harvey shrugged. "You've been working for me for eight months now, I figured I might as well know some of your background."

Mike smiled his lazy smile again and straightened himself a little on the wall. The new position lasted for about thirty seconds before he was slumping again. "I thought you didn't care."

"I don't. I'm trying to keep you talking and conscious because I really don't want to have to drag your skinny ass out of here when we get rescued." The words came out all in a jumble and Harvey was trying his best to maintain his composure. He knew you were supposed to keep someone with a serious injury talking because if they fell asleep they could go into a coma. That and something about asking them questions. Maybe that was for a concussion. Harvey didn't care, he was going to question the shit out of Mike if he had to. "So really, what were you studying?"

Mike shrugged lightly and rolled his head to look back up at the ceiling. Harvey pretended not to notice how much of an effort that took. "I was getting my core classes done mostly. I got kicked out when I was a sophmore so I didn't have much in the way of specialty classes for my major."

"Not what I asked, kid."

Mike rolled his eyes a bit. "Business and management. Not my first choice but I figured I could get a job with it so why not, you know?"

Harvey was somewhat surprised. "Why not law? Or computers or medicine or something like that? With your freaky Kodak brain I figured you'd be in one of those kinds of fields."

Mike laughed softly and shook his head. The movement made him dizzy and he had to physically press himself a bit harder into the wall to feel like he wasn't falling over. "Never really thought about it...I started taking the LSATS for people because it was good money but I always thought law was kind of boring." He smiled warily at Harvey and the older man chuckled softly and smiled back.

"Yeah, well being a lawyer isn't all cocktail parties and private jets, kid." There was a brief moment of silence before they spoke again.

"What about you?"

Harvey frowned and looked at him. "What?"

"What about you?" Mike repeated, rolling his head back to look at his boss. "What made you decide to be a lawyer?"

Harvey was silent for a second before answering. It wasn't really something he talked about very often but hell, they were stuck in an office with three gunman outside the door. Now seemed as good a time as any. "My parents got divorced when I was eight."

"I'm sorry." Mike mumbled, his voice a bit softer than it had been before.

"I'm not." Harvey answered almost automatically. Realizing he sounded snappy, he changed his tone a bit. "They used to fight everyday and I always wondered why they were even still together. When they finally decided on a divorce, I was taken to one of the meetings. There was just something about the lawyer that struck me; he was confident and smart and he looked like he had his life in order. For me, being eight and having both parents locked in the World War III of custody battles, I wanted that kind of life. I wanted to be like that." Harvey shrugged again, suddenly very aware that Mike was looking at him.

"Wow..." Mike mumbled, working to sit up straighter again and failing. "That must have been rough."

Harvey shook his head. "Nah, my parent's divorce was the best thing that ever happened to them. And to me, too."

"Mmm." Mike made a soft noise beside him and Harvey looked over to see his eyes closed.

"Hey!" Harvey snapped, swatting Mike on the shoulder. The other tellers looked over in alarm but Harvey ignored them. All of his attention was focused on Mike. "Open your eyes. No sleeping on the job, kid."

Mike made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. "Okay, first, Ow. Second, I'm having a hard time qualifying _this_ as a job." He gestured vaguely around the room. "And third, I wasn't sleeping. I was trying to take my mind off the pain..."

Harvey didn't say anything; he'd been trying to take _his_ mind off the dark blood stain forming beneath Mike's leg that seemed to have gotten bigger since they'd been sitting there. "Just keep your eyes open for me, okay?"

Mike nodded slowly and opened his eyes to stare back at the door. "Whatever you say, boss." His voice sounded tired and it had nothing to do with exasperation. Harvey felt something very similar to worry and fear beginning to twist in his gut. Mike was going downhill fast and there was no end in sight. He just needed to hold on until they got out of here...

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**Okay, so if Harvey seems a bit OOC I apologize =/ I figure Mike's bleeding so Harvey lets some of his walls come down a bit, you know? He doesn't care though *stoic face***


	5. Down For The Count

**Once again, thank you all so much for the awesome reviews! You guys are amazing! :D**

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"Mike!"

The younger man startled a bit and blinked, looking around the room blearily. "What?"

"Wake up." Harvey muttered to his left, a strange expression settled across his face. It was somewhere between concern and annoyance but Mike didn't have the mental capabilities to distinguish it at the moment.

"Wasn't asleep..." he muttered back, slightly thrown by how weak his voice sounded. He cleared his throat a bit before speaking again. "I was thinking..."

"With your eyes closed?" Harvey's voice sounded incredulous next to him.

"Best kind of thinking," Mike fired back though his words came out tired instead of quippy like he was hoping. There was a brief moment of silence and Mike felt himself start to drift again; it was getting harder to stay awake and when he was awake it was getting harder to make sense of anything around him. The world was doing a funny kind of slow swim where everything just outside his line of vision would sway and blur and dip in and out of focus. It made him feel sick to his stomach and he found the best solution was to close his eyes and block it out. But every time he closed his eyes, it got harder to open them.

"How're you feeling?" Harvey's voice brought him back around and he blinked again, slow and deliberate. He opened his mouth to say something and frowned; the inside of his mouth tasted like he's been sucking on a penny for an hour. There was a dull buzzing in the back of his mind too, a deep, vibrating hum like someone had turned on a blender outside the door. He shook his head slowly.

"I'm fine," he managed; another slow, deliberate blink.

"Bullshit." Harvey was suddenly in his face and Mike wondered when he had moved. "I can read people, kid. Its kind of my thing, so do me a favor and don't lie to me." There was a hard look in his eyes and he was scrutinizing the younger man carefully.

Mike frowned and tried to lift his hand to push him away but his arm felt like it was made of lead. He sighed irritably. "I'm not feeling so great, alright? Happy?"

"Elated." Harvey muttered, reaching out and touching Mike's face gently. The younger man flinched at the unexpected contact and jumped a bit. Harvey ignored that, frowning instead at how clammy Mike's skin felt. His face felt damp and cool like he'd taken a shower and let the water air dry. There was a light sheen of sweat across his forehead and dark, bruise-like circles had formed beneath his eyes. In short, he looked terrible. "Yeah, well you're not looking so hot either, kid."

Mike forced a watery smile. "No wonder you're such a lady killer..."

"Hey, I'm perfectly charming," Harvey shot back, not quite moving away from his associate. They needed to get out of here and soon, Mike wasn't going to hold up much longer. Remembering the coolness of his skin, Harvey slipped off his jacket and tucked it across Mike's chest and around his shoulders. The younger man looked at him curiously.

"You're going to ruin your jacket..." He mumbled, looking down at the beautiful dark fabric.

"Yeah, well I guess that means you'll have to buy me a new one, huh?" Harvey tried to keep his tone light but the words hung in his throat like they were coated in tar.

Allison appeared above him a few seconds later, her dark eyes still red-rimmed with tears but she looked a bit more composed that she had earlier. She slipped off her sweater and knealt down next to Mike, laying it across his legs. She offered him a warm smile and the younger man tried to return it but it looked forced. Mike leaned his head back against the wall, eyes flickering closed a bit.

"How is he?" Allison asked, speaking softly and looking at Harvey.

The older man hesitated for a second before answering. He didn't want to verbalize it, hoping vainly that if he didn't say it out loud it somehow wouldn't seem so bad. "Not good," he said finally but his grim expression said more than his words did. He was at a complete loss and there was nothing he could do to help but wait.

"He saved my life." Allison continued, looking at Mike with a mixture of gratitude and fondness. "He didn't even think he just..." She shook her head and brushed a tear from her face, reaching out and cupping his cheek gently. "His skin feels so cold..." She whispered, her voice breaking a bit.

Harvey wanted to say something to comfort her, something that would make the situation seem less dire, but nothing came to mind. Mike was bleeding to death right in front of him and there was nothing he could do. He glanced back toward the door. "Can you stay with him for a minute?" he asked, looking at Allison who nodded quickly.

She scooted forward, taking one of Mike's hands in both of hers and trying to rub some warmth back into it. The younger man blinked a few times, finally coming back to his senses enough to look at her. She smiled fondly at him. "Hey...how do you feel?"

Mike struggled to come up with an appropriate response, her words swimming and slipping around in his head like they were coated in oil. "I'm okay..." he said finally, trying to make this lie a bit more convincing than the one he'd told Harvey earlier. In all honesty, he knew he probably didn't have much time left but he was trying to put of brave face for both Harvey and Allison. He'd lost a lot of blood already and they'd been stuck in here for nearly an hour now and he didn't really see the police rushing in to save the day anytime soon. He'd taken a First Aid class back in high school and remembered the symptoms of shock associated with blood loss: he was freezing, he had the sensation of pins and needles in his fingers, and every second he forced himself to stay conscious was an epic battle of wills. He felt like he was floating, drifting in a cold sea, and the shore was getting futher away.

"You just have to hang on for a little while longer, okay?" Allison's voice sounded far away and shaky. Her fingers were moving through his hair, warm and comforting, and he tried so hard to focus on her voice. "Just a little bit longer..."

Harvey had stepped away when Allison had moved in next to Mike and walked over to the door, crouching down by the handle and trying to listen outside. He pressed his ear to the door, listening closely. He could make out a few distorted voices shouted through mega-phones but he couldn't tell what they were saying. He tried the door handle in the furtive hope that it would somehow be unlocked but was disappointed when it didn't budge.

Stanley appeared next to him, pressing his back against the wall like he was afraid the door would burst open any second. "Is the door unlocked? Do you think we could make a run for it?"

Harvey shook his head with a sigh. "No, its locked. Even if we could get out, those men out there still have guns. We'd never make it to the door..." Not only that, someone would have to carry Mike because leaving him behind and coming back with help was absolutely not an option.

Stanley let out a loud sigh and laughed shakily. "You know, if we make it through this I think I'm going to talk to Bruce about early retirement."

Harvey smiled ruefully. "Hazards of working for a bank."

Stanley smiled humorlessly. "Tell me about it."

There was a shift of movement somewhere outside the door but it was still too hard to make out the details. Everything sounded muffled and far away on the other side of the door. Harvey leaned a bit closer, trying his best to hear something, anything, outside. He could almost make out a voice-

"Harvey...?" Allison's voice suddenly shook his attention and he looked back, his stomach dropping at her expression. Mike was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed completely now, and for a terrible second Harvey was afraid he was dead.

He was on his feet and across the room before he realized it, crouching in front of Mike and gripping his shoulders. "Mike? Mike! Answer me!" The younger man didn't respond.

Allison had tears in her eyes again, her hands shaking at her sides. "I was talking to him and he closed his eyes and then he didn't answer and now I can't get him to wake up and-" Her voice broke as she spoke, tears making her words quiver.

Harvey wasn't listening though. "Mike," he said again, shaking the younger man a bit more forcefully. Mike's head lolled to the side like a ragdoll. "Come on, kid...don't do this to me..." He reached out, pressing his fingers to the side of Mike's throat, searching for a pulse. It was weak and thready, the beat flutterings beneath his fingertips.

There was a dull popping outside the door and something that sounded like glass shattering. Stanley leapt away from the door and was pressed against the back wall with Carol and Lisa. Allison looked toward the door, her eyes wide with terror. Harvey wasn't paying attention to any of them, all he saw was Mike. "Come on, Mike. Stay with me, okay?" His hand cupped the younger man's cold cheek, his thumb brushing over his face. "Stay with me..."

Voices echoed through the hallway, loud and garbled, and there was more popping sounds. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Harvey recognized them as gunshots. The voices were getting closer, right outside the door, and something heavy slammed into the door. One of the women screamed but Harvey couldn't be sure who.

There was another loud crash against the door before it splintered completely. Harvey turned his head and covered Mike's body with his own.

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**Eeeek! One more chapter to go! ^.-**


	6. Safe At Last

**Wow! Once again, thank you guys so much for all of your amazing reviews! You have no idea how much they mean to me! :D**

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The door splintered and buckled to the inside, falling with a clatter to the floor. Harvey glanced over his shoulder just enough to see a group of police officers barge through the threshold, guns drawn and scanning the room for any sign of a threat. A wave of relief swept through the everyone inside.

"Oh thank God..." Lisa exhaled, lowering her arms a bit as the police walked into the room. Carol was next to her, looking shaken and wide-eyed, her hands lowering a little as well. Stanley smiled weakly and looked like he wanted to hug one of the officers.

"Is everyone alright?" The closest officer asked, looking around the room once more at the people huddled inside. Everyone nodded except Harvey who was still half-bent over Mike. The younger man was still unconscious.

"I need some help over here," he said, catching the attention of one of the officers. The man walked over and knelt next to Harvey, taking a close look at Mike. He picked up his walkie-talkie and called for a paramedic team, his eyes drifting back between Mike and Allison. Taking her into account as well, he called for another team.

Within a few minutes a group of paramedics arrived in the room and rushed straight over to Mike. One of them helped Allison to her feet and walked her to the door, her gaze never leaving Mike's pale face. Harvey stepped back and allowed them to work on his associate, watching carefully as they hooked him up to an IV and gently loaded him onto a stretcher.

The police officers were walking the other tellers out of the room, one officer standing next to each person and leading them by the arm gently. One walked over to Harvey and tried to lead him away with the others but he refused, his eyes fixed on Mike the whole time. Only when Mike was strapped to the stretcher and ready to be wheeled out did Harvey allow himself to be led from the room.

There was glass shattered all over the floor in the front lobby, morning sunlight glittering off the broken pieces. Two of the robbers were being dragged outside in handcuffs and shoved into the backs of the police cars. A small cluster of officers in the back corner of the lobby hid the fate of the third robber, a plain, white sheet covering what was left of him. Harvey tried not to feel smug satisfaction with the man's death.

Harvey followed the paramedics over to the waiting ambulance, ignoring the questions they directed at him and focusing intstead on Mike. They wouldn't let him ride to the hospital with him but they assured him he would be fine in transit. Harvey wanted to protest but knew that the longer he sat there and bickered with them, the longer it would take for Mike to get the help he needed. Finally, he relented and stepped away from the ambulance, watching as they closed the doors and pulled away from the bank. He pulled out his cell phone and called Donna.

"Oh my God, Harvey!" His receptionist cried the minute she heard his voice, her voice loud enough to break glass. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's Mike? Did something happen? What's going on? Dammit Harvey, answer me or I'm going to keep screaming!"

Harvey looked off in the direction the ambulance had left. "Donna, I'll fill you in on everything later. I need you to cancel all my appointments for the afternoon and tell Jessica I'm not coming back in today. I'm heading to the hospital right now."

"The hospital?" Donna's voice was shrill; she was absolutely bursting at the seams to know what had happened. "Harvey, is everything okay? Where's Mike?"

"I'll call you later." The phone slipped back into his pocket and he walked toward the parking lot, all his attention focused on getting to the hospital.

**OOOOO**

A friendly receptionist greeted him when he got to the hospital, smiling pleasantly behind her desk. She told him Mike had been wheeled into surgery and to take a seat in the waiting room, the doctor would meet with him when they got finished.

He'd barely been there ten minutes before Donna burst through the front doors and rushed over to him. Her eyes were wild and her hair was coming undone from the ponytail she'd held it back in but she didn't seem to care. She walked directly over to Harvey, her eyes absently scanning the room for Mike. "You. Explain. Now." She demanded, pointing at him with a perfectly painted nail, each word coming out sharp and short.

Harvey sighed softly and told her about the bank robbery and Mike taking a bullet while protecting Allison. Donna's eyes widened as he spoke, real, honest-to-God tears welling in her eyes. "He jumped in front of a man with a gun?" She hissed, her eyes narrowing in disbelief.

Harvey nodded slowly and blinked when Donna cursed violently under her breath. "Idiot," she growled after a second, angrily brushing a tear from her face. "I'm going to beat him to death with a briefcase if he ever does something that stupid again!" Harvey smiled a bit; he felt the same way. Donna was looking at him strangely then, taking in his rumpled clothes and lack of jacket. "You have blood on your sleeves," she pointed out, indicating the splotches of crimson that dotted the edges of his cuffs.

Harvey looked down and frowned. He hadn't realized how much blood he'd had on him until Donna said something. It was all over his palms and staining his sleeves halfway up his forearms. There was dried blood the color of rust underneath his fingernails. His hands were tacky with it and he could smell it all over him. Mike's blood.

Harvey stood slowly, politely excused himself from Donna, walked into the nearest bathroom and threw up.

**OOOOO**

"Family of Mike Ross?" A man in light blue scrubs appeared in the doorway about an hour later, catching Harvey and Donna's attention. He smiled and walked over to them, sitting in an empty seat next to Donna. "My name is Dr. Sallen, I'm the surgeon who operated on Mike." He gave them both a reassuring smile before he continued. "Mike's fine, he's resting in the ICU right now. The bullet wound was clean, it didn't hit the bone, which means the internal damage was limited. He'll have to use crutches for a few weeks and I'm going to schedule him to meet with a physical therapist a couple times a week until he regains strength in his leg."

Harvey nodded slowly, letting the information sink in. "So he's going to be alright?"

Dr. Sallen nodded in return. "He lost a lot of blood but we got him stabilized. He'll need plenty of rest but he should make a full recovery."

Harvey released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Can we see him?"

The doctor nodded. "He's probably still asleep, the pain killers we gave him were pretty strong. You're welcome to go in an sit with him though."

Harvey and Donna stood and followed the man back down a hallway into a quiet wing of the hospital. He stopped outside one of the doors and nodded them inside. Mike was laying in the bed, his leg bandaged thickly and propped up with a pillow. His eyes were closed but he had a bit more color than when Harvey had last seen him and it set the older man's mind at ease.

Donna took a seat next to the edge of the bed, taking Mike's hand in hers gently. She was rubbing her thumb across his knuckles lightly and telling him all the creative ways she would kill him with a stiletto if he ever did anything so stupid again. Harvey smiled a bit and walked over to the other side of the bed, hesitating a second before reaching out and touching his other hand.

They sat in his room quietly for about twenty minutes before anything happened. Mike made a soft noise in the back of his throat, his eyes fluttering a bit. It took a minute but he finally opened them, blinking owlishly at the blurry figure of Harvey above him. He swallowed a bit before speaking. "Did we get out?" His voice was weak and scratchy from disuse.

Harvey smiled and nodded. "Yeah kid, we got out. Everyone's just fine."

"Allison?"

"She's fine," Harvey assured him, still somewhat amazed by the fact that the kid had just gotten out of surgery and was asking about someone else. For some reason Mike never failed to surprise him.

Donna was on him then, keeping a gentle grip on his hand and berating him for being so stupid at the same time. She looked like she wanted to cry, hug him, and throttle him all at once. Harvey just smiled and took a seat next to the bed, settling back in the chair. For the first time that day, he allowed himself to take a deep breath and relax.

**Epilogue **

A few months later, after Mike was completely off the crutches and Donna wasn't giving him shit/mothering him every chance she got, a card was delivered to his cubicle. There was no return address or even a name on the front. Mike frowned curiously and flipped it over, pulling open the flap and extracting the card from inside.

A large "THANK YOU!" was scrawled in gold cursive across the front of the card and inside was a typical thank you note and a small picture taped to the blank side of the card. It was Allison holding a sleeping, dark haired little boy. She was grinning widely and had her arms wrapped protectively around the baby, holding him close to her chest. A small, hand-written note was scrawled beneath the picture.

_Mike,_

_Thank you again for saving our lives. Your courage is an inspiration for me every day._

_Sincerely,_

_Allison and Colin Michael Harper._

Mike smiled as he read the card, looking closely at the picture. Harvey appeared above his desk a few seconds later, peeking over his shoulder. "Ah, I see you've made a new fan," he said, nodding toward the baby in the picture.

Mike smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good with kids."

Harvey rolled his eyes and smirked. "You should be a Scout Master."

"You're just jealous."

"Not hardly." Harvey smirked again and pushed away from the younger man's desk. "Kids aren't really my thing, anyway." He would never tell Mike that he'd sent flowers to Allison in the hospital the day she gave birth. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

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**Hehe ^.^ Okay, so Colin Michael is actually the future name of a good friend of mine's little boy but it seemed to fit in here too! :D Hope you all liked it!**


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